ELSAH, IL – It was an incredible milestone evening in Hay Field House on Tuesday for the Principia women's basketball team.
The Panthers hosted conference rival Greenville University who the women's program had not beaten in over 16 years. Principia came in determined to exorcise their demons against GU, and they were able to continue their recent run of strong play, never giving up the lead after the first quarter. Principia's 66-54 victory ended a 25-game losing streak against Greenville with their last win over their fellow Panthers coming on January 31, 2009.
On top of that history, junior
Taylor Brown came into the game needing to tie or surpass her season-high of 22 points to reach 1000 for her college career. After putting up 13 in the first half and another six in the third quarter, she was just three points away heading into the final frame. Brown then made a lay up on the team's first possession of the fourth and only need one more score.
With eight minutes left in the game, Brown drove to the hoop and was fouled to send her to the line. She calmly stepped up and drilled her first free throw sending her teammates and Principia fans into a frenzy. Coach Dominguez called a timeout and the team rushed the court to celebrate Brown's amazing achievement. Her father Greg is one of the team's assistant coaches and was one of the first to give Taylor a big hug. Brown becomes just the 11th player in program history to join the 1000 point club.
Brown led all scorers with 23 points while adding 6 rebounds and 4 assists. She wasn't the only Panther with a huge, historic game as
Lamiya Terrell recorded her first double-double of the season with a career-high 21 points and 11 steals to tie the program record for steals in a game.
Principia will now run the gauntlet of facing conference leaders Webster and Westminster on the road for their next two games. Webster will be first up on Saturday at 1:00 pm in St. Louis. Thankfully, the Panthers will come in playing their best basketball of the season.
